Conflict of Interest

The Bustle reported how Republicans are profiting from the repeal of ObamaCare by buying up health care industry stocks as the bill moved through the legislative process.

According to the Intercept story, Representative Conaway, (R-TX), who is part of the House Republican leadership staff, bought up to $30,000 of United Health stock on March 24, the same day that the House version of the health care bill advance through a committee, while Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) bought between $50,000 and $100,000 of stock in the same company. The stock price of United Health has risen by 7 percent since March 24.

This isn’t the first time there have been problems of conflict of interest in lawmakers buying stocks. Tom Price, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, landed in hot water during his confirmation for the cabinet position due to purchases of pharmaceutical stocks at discounted prices while he was regulating the pharmaceutical industry. In 2012, Congress passed the STOCK act, which was aimed at preventing insider trading by members of Congress, after government officials had used top-level information to benefit themselves financially during the financial crisis.